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Castle
Rothesay Castle
Moated castle of the Stewart kings with Scotland's only circular curtain wall; the great hall has displays.
A mini guide to
Rothesay and the island: things to do
Places worth your time in Rothesay and the island
Top places
Things to do in Rothesay and the island
Landmarks, museums, parks and viewpoints in and around the area.
Listed building
Victorian Toilets
Public toilets on the west pier, opened in 1900 and renovated in 1994; now a listed tourist attraction.
Museum
Bute Museum
Museum of the Bute Museum and Natural History Society on the archaeology, history and wildlife of Bute; shorter winter opening from October.
Country house and gardens
Mount Stuart
Gothic Revival home of the Marquesses of Bute, designed by Robert Rowand Anderson in the late 1870s; seasonal opening.
Ruined church
St Blane's Church
Remains of a monastery founded in the 500s and a 12th-century parish church, at the south end of the island.
Iron Age fort
Dunagoil
Vitrified Iron Age fort on a volcanic headland, its ramparts melted by intense heat.
Village and bay
Kilchattan Bay
Village at the south end of Bute, sheltered by Suidhe Chattan hill, with a sandy bay to the north.
Beach
Ettrick Bay
Wide sandy bay about 2 km across on the west coast, used for D-Day landing practice.
Walking route
West Island Way
Waymarked route opened in 2000, the first on a Scottish island; one of NatureScot's Great Trails.
Village
Port Bannatyne
Village on Kames Bay north of Rothesay, with Kames Castle at the head of the bay.
Tower house
Kames Castle
Fourteenth-century tower house in 20 acres of grounds with an 18th-century walled garden near Port Bannatyne.
Ruined church
St Colmac's Church
Roofless ruin of St Colmac's church in the north of Bute.
Historic building
Rothesay Town Hall
Victorian Town Hall and Sheriff Court building on Castle Street, beside Rothesay Castle.
Beach
Scalpsie Bay
Sandy beach on the south-west coast of Bute, on the Sound of Bute.
Photo credits
- Rothesay and the island (area photo): Otter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rothesay Castle: Otter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Victorian Toilets: Kristijrn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mount Stuart: Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dunagoil: Anne Burgess, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kilchattan Bay: Nicholas Mutton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ettrick Bay: John Firth, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- West Island Way: Richard Webb, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Port Bannatyne: Frank Jordan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kames Castle: Rob Farrow, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- St Colmac's Church: Thomas Nugent, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rothesay Town Hall: Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licences shown. All photo credits
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